Xavier Gerard: Rhone's New Generation of Old School

Several years ago, we kind of predicted this guy was going to be big. There's an underlying standard you're held to when you're heralded by the likes of Northern Rhone Godfather, Bernard Levet, who's been making some of the planet's finest Syrah for decades. Consider all of our expectations shattered.

We're happy to be one of very few (if not, the only retailer) outlets in which you can acquire this hearty young whipper-snapper of a Cote-Rotie. Our love affair with Domaine Gerard began shortly after the first bottling of his modest Viognier under VDP-Collines Rhodaniennes designation, of which we're also one of very few to carry when it's available.

An assemblage of the estate’s finest parcels, the single Cote-Rotie cuvée produced at the Gerard domaine is sourced principally from the Mollard lieu-dit (65%) with the balance a mix of Font-Jean, Viallière, and La Landonne. The de-stemming regimen varies with vintage, though a significant part is generally left as whole clusters. This is a finer expression of the appellation than many of its counterparts along the slope, with a purity of fruit and finesse to the tannins. Although its profile is marked by a regal elegance that makes this wine seductively drinkable in its youth, older examples offer strong testimony that the Cote-Rotie from Domaine Gerard has the capacity to provide a pure and tenacious expression of this noble terroir for decades in the bottle.

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